by Moses Billacura
Happy birthday to our editor in chief, AMA!
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For reasons I don’t know, I did not switch on the television and radio that day which is strange.
But when I received Atty .Guillermo Iroy Jr.’s e-mail of a live footage of a tsunami in Japan, suddenly the silent room became an instant newsroom.
To my shock, the devastating earthquake caused the horrible tsunami to wreck havoc on a beautiful country known for its Samurais, Emperors, mouth-watering sushi, centuries-old temples and palaces, smooth-riding bullet trains, high tech gadgets, fuel-efficient cars and people, young and old who would troop to stadiums to enjoy watching baseball games.
Only last month, our friends from the Tokyo Kichijoji Lions Club came to Davao City to attend the annual Davao City Baseball Cup, an event they have sponsored for the last six years, through the strong efforts of Datu Bago awardee and Davao-born Japanese Tatsuo Uchida of the Datu Uchida Development Foundation.
A month later, they grieve with their nation.
Maam Ines P. Mallari, the Foundation’s executive director, said that the Japanese baseball supporters who visited Davao City were just fine as of this writing, but I’m sure their sorrow has been felt, too, by members of the local baseball community.
It’s just too sad to even think about it because for sure our recent visitors have business associates, friends and even relatives affected by the calamity.
The Davao City Baseball Association led by its president Joaquin “Boy” Sarabia has included our Japanese friends in their daily prayers in the hope that they will soon find comfort in these very, very challenging times.
To all Dabawenyos, please pray for Japan.
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Philippine Sports Commission chairman Ritchie Garcia was right in telling members of the national training pool that they must compete in the P-Noy National Games on May 23 to 26 that will be hosted by Silay, Talisay, Bago City and Bacolod City in Negros Occidental.
Their participation will definitely be a test if they deserve to be part of the training pool where receive monthly allowances from the government agency.
This will also give an opportunity to non-national training pool athletes from all over the country to show their wares and hopefully defeat them in the Games and prove to our national sports officials that they deserve a spot on the national team.
This had been the intention of the defunct Philippine National Games (PNG) founders in 1994 to allow all athletes from the different provinces and cities to compete in order to discover who are really the best in the country.
But the question now is, did the PSC chief coordinate with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Provincial and City Government heads in making sure that the best players from the provinces and cities are to be sent to the P-Noy National Games?
It’s easy to say that the P-Noy National Games is an “open competition” when in fact, provincial athletes fail to prepare for it because expenses for their participation are not
included by the local government units in budget preparation last year.
Ideally, when you announce this year a National Games, the event should be played next year or even two years from now because that will give ample time for the local National Sports Association heads to file their request for funding with the provincial, municipal and city governments and wait for its approval, then coaches will have the time to set up a training program for their athletes and make sure that they reach the peak of their training at an appropriate time for the National Games.
Announcing it only a few months before the Games is to begin is just not right. Wrong timing.
Right, chairman Garcia?
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Happy birthday to University of Mindanao assistant baseball coach Ryan Sarabia, old friends Charles Macaraeg, maam Millet Roberto Dizon, Pedileen Macatiog-Pilapil and Mercy Joy Alanib.
